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Jordyn Barr

Professor Blouch

English Comp 1201

26 March 2020

Does Cryotherapy and Stem Cell Therapy Work?

Everyday, athletes of all kinds push their bodies to its limit, putting stress on

every part of their bodies. Muscles ache, and joints creak, and still athletes return to

their sport day in and day out. As an athlete myself, I have felt the pain of constantly

pushing my body to it’s limit. If nothing is done to heal the body, the temporary pain will

lead to injuries that can not be fixed by anything other than long periods of rest or even

surgery. I have known many athletes that have pushed too hard and did not take care of

themselves. One athlete I know played through the pain for months and didn’t stop, that

athlete ended up having surgery and is now waiting to see if their performance will ever

return to normal. Many athletes I know, and even professionals use cryotherapy and

stem cell therapy to recover damaged muscles and maybe if some would’ve used these

methods it would’ve saved them from a lot of pain. Cryotherapy and stem cell therapy

repair damaged muscles to help recover and reduce pain quicker than conventional

methods of recovery. Given the research on the topic I strongly believe that these two

methods of therapy are effective, and do help to improve body functions, and athletic

performance by quickly healing the body and are allowing athletes to perform at their

best.

Cryotherapy is the use of extremely cold temperatures to reduce swelling of the

muscles. These methods can include ice, ice baths,cryochambers, etc. Ice is the most
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common method of therapy used by athletes, almost all athletes have used ice on an

injury or even as a precaution. Ice baths are used for larger injuries that a bag of ice

may not cover, and cryochamber is an advanced method that is even colder than an ice

Fig. 1. Cryochambers can reach extremely cold temperatures, for this reason

participants must wear protection over the extremities to prevent frostbite.

(“Cryotherapy: Can It Stop Your Cold Pain?”)

bath and can reach -100 degrees and colder. All types of cryotherapy are used to

reduce swelling and ultimately pain, in an article by the Washington Post the process of

cryotherapy is explained:

Nerve fibers in the body are stimulated by the cold, and this sends a signal

through the blood vessels around that part of the body to constrict and protect

the organs by sending blood back to the body’s core. As the blood from the area

rushes back to the core, blood flow to the area reduces and slows the processes

in the areas that are being iced, which slows the inflammatory response, and

reduces the swelling in the region. (Aschwanden)

The extremely cold temperatures used in cryotherapy, reduce inflammation that occurs

during or after participating in athletic events that might cause pain and irritation in the
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body. With the use of cryotherapy, soreness and pain is numbed and swelling is

reduced. Another way to help the muscles and the body recover is with the use of stem

cell therapy.

When working out muscle fibers and strands are being broken down, then after

the muscle tries to repair itself by building more and more muscle fibers. With the use of

stem therapy the muscle can more quickly grow muscle fibers and develop the muscle

faster making it stronger than before. This strategy also reduces soreness because the

faster the fibers repair themselves the faster the muscle is recovered. Stem cells have

many benefits to them but when used for athletic recovery can ultimately help the

athlete recover exponentially, “Orthobiologic therapies introduce high concentrations of

naturally occurring cellular concentrates to an injury with the intention of expediting the

healing of muscles, ligaments, tendons, and bones; thereby shortening recovery time

and decreasing injury-related inflammation and pain” (USADA). This quote from the

USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) explains how stem cell therapy helps to

improve the body by injecting stem cells into the part of body in need of recovery, it

quickly heals the part intended for repair in less time than without the use of stem cells

and reduces inflammation and pain in the area.

Knowing how the two methods of therapy do help to restore the body quickly,

there are many things that play a role in how fast the body recovers. Cryotherapy and

stem therapy are both used after the body is put through stress, physically. So how can

healing the body with these two methods be better than healing the body naturally.

Oftentimes athletes in season don’t have much time to take breaks or to rest, they are

constantly participating in activities that push their bodies harder and harder going back
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on the field, court, etc. each and every day. According to an article, written by Dr.

Francisco Tavares, it takes longer than a day for most athletes to recover from sporting

events, for example, Most athletes take 48 hours based on events to return back to

normal, but some can take up to 76 hours or even 96 hours, after events that take the

body longer to recover, such as, sprint performances. Depending on which activity an

athlete is participating in would affect how long it would take for their bodies to fully

recover. Another factor that would affect the time needed for complete recovery would

be competition level. If an athlete competes at a higher level that would mean that they

are pushing their bodies harder than someone performing at a lower level due to the

skill level of the competition(Tavares). There are also more factors that go into the

amount of time needed for a natural recovery of the body, such as weather, if the

temperatures are extreme, (very high or very low temps.), the body will need to work

harder to counteract the effects of the extreme weather. Depending on certain

circumstances it could take the body longer than normal to recover naturally. That is

where the use of other methods such as cryotherapy and stem cell therapy come into

place. They heal the body quicker than natural recovery.

When in season athletes don’t have a lot of off times, meaning, athletes don’t

have the luxury to sit around and wait for the pain to subside. With the use of

cryotherapy pain and inflammation can be reversed faster than waiting for it to happen

on it’s own, For example:

A newly studied experiment from Leeder et al. showed that The symptoms of

delayed onset muscle soreness can be reduced by using effective methods of

cold water immersions after working out and wearing down the body with
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exercise. The results found in this analysis agreed with those found from similar

studies. Their differences in these authors' studies showed that using cooling

methods to recover the body are better than using natural recovery methods

which can take up to 96 hours to return to baseline status (Hohenauer et al.).

This quote shows that cryotherapy can heal and recover the body faster than natural

recovery, based on multiple scientific studies. If an athlete chose to use a cryotherapy

method over just stretching at home it would help to alleviate their pain quicker than rest

would. The more an athlete chooses to help their body recover the better off they will

feel the next day competing or training. Another way that an athlete can recover their

body quicker if they use stem cell therapy.

Stem cell use is a relatively new discovery. Recently scientists have been

intrigued by the work that stem cells can do. The use of stem cells to recover muscles of

the body is just one of many uses but it is very beneficial to athletes, in part because

scientists and workers have discovered the uses for stem cells since they can become

many types of tissues, such as bone or cartilage, whichever is needed. So they believe

that stem cells are the key to healing and assisting the healing process because stem

cells can become which body part that needs to be healed. (USADA). Stem cell therapy

is beneficial to athletes returning from injuries or just pain, because when stem cells are

injected into the place of injury it can become the needed tissue or muscle to heal the

injury quicker than the body could repair it on it’s own. Rather than waiting for the

muscle to heal by itself on its own time, stem cell therapy makes the process quicker by

injecting healthy stem cells into the place of injury in order to repair the body at a faster
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rate. Both methods of therapy help to repair the body quickly, helping athletes to

perform.

Most athletes, especially professional athletes, train tirelessly for hours upon

hours. They are training their bodies to fight exhaustion and fatigue in order to be the

best. But after those long training days their bodies are sore and muscles are aching,

and in order for them to come back the next day and be their best, they must heal and

recover the damage done to their bodies. Professional athletes use cryotherapy

everyday and receive benefits such as, being able to recover from sports injuries that

cause pain or from conditions that cause pain, or athletes can use cryotherapy to

improve athletic performance, reduce their anxiety, and help with weight loss.

(Shmerling), but recently many athletes began to use stem cell therapy, for example,

Tiger Woods pro-golfer, tennis professional Rafael Nadal, Gordie Howe Hockey player,

NFL quarterback Peyton Manning, and NBA player Kobe Byrant all have used stem

cells and other related therapies for the past decade (Szabo).These top athletes use

these methods to help them recover, these are the best of the best, so as more and

more professionals began to use the methods more will want to use the methods and

they will become more popular. As they become more popular more research will be

done to improve and better these two therapies.

If an athlete is in pain they can not perform at their highest level. If the soreness

of a muscle can be felt while an athlete is trying to run, jump, swim, etc. they will be

focused on blocking out the pain instead of trying to perform the best they can. Pain is a

distraction and only the best can block it out, but how long can they block it out until

they can not perform because of it. Athletes worry about not being able to perform but
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why should they risk their health if they can’t even perform their best. If an injury or

soreness is keeping an athlete from sprinting a little faster to stop the other team from

scoring, or if a torn muscle is stopping an athlete from jumping a little higher or farther

than their opponent, what good is that athlete to the team if they cannot compete at their

highest levels. Athletes knowing when enough is enough is good, for example, when

athletes want to be their best and train continuously with an injury causing pain, their

performance can be affected and major consequences are possible (Barrette). A

scientific study was done and it showed that if an athlete’s health was not at it’s best

and they kept competing as normal the pain of the injury would get worse and so would

the injury itself. In order to stop this from happening an athlete would need to

continuously recover their body. After every strenuous activity an athlete should heal the

muscles and joints. If proper healing techniques are used an athlete's performance

would not be affected by how hard they may train.

If an athlete used cryotherapy and stem cell therapy regularly to reduce

inflammation, pain, and soreness overuse injuries would be less likely to happen and

athletes can perform the best they can. Although these methods may not completely fix

an injury or soreness they help and make the pain better than it would be without

treatment, for instance, two scientific studies showed that, “The results of this study

have revealed that cryotherapy is effective in minimizing the perceived pain associated

with DOMS. There was a significant improvement in perceived pain in the test group,”

(Day, Ploen), and recent studies have shown that with non-invasive therapies there can

improve function of the muscles faster after strenuous exercise, thus providing therapy

for some injuries of the muscles (Best et al.). These two studies show that even though
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the two methods of therapy are relatively new to the spotlight, that they are effective in

their efforts to heal injured and hurting athletes. An athlete can use these methods in

order to perform their best. As long as the athletes are safe in their actions and

treatments.

Although there are many benefits of stem cell therapy and cryotherapy, since the

two methods are fairly new many people have doubts and questions on whether the two

methods are safe and whether they actually work and help. One concern for the safety

of cryotherapy is the death of a cryo chamber worker, after a long day at work she

decided to get into one of the cryo tanks at the spa she worked in, but the next day she

was found dead her body “rock-solid” as stated by a member of the family (Storrs). A

worker at a cryochamber bar was found dead inside one of the cryochambers because

she had stayed inside too long and without any supervision. Even though this tragic

event took place, no other event similar has happened when the participant stays inside

the chamber for the recommended amount of time and with supervision at all times. In

the same article the author for CNN defends the credibility of cryochambers,

“...Advocates of cryotherapy --- which involves short exposure to very cold temperatures

--- say the treatment is safe when used correctly. For example, cryotherapy centers

generally do not allow people, even employees such as Ake-Salvacion, to go into the

machines without supervision”(Storrs). When used correctly the treatment is safe for

people. Many also worry about stem cell therapy because the method is so new to the

world of sports. Many scientists are still experimenting with the abilities of stem cells.

The study of these cells is so new, intregringing, and full of so many possibilities that

scientists are racing to discover all their benefits, scientists all over the world are racing
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to discover all the benefits of stem cells (Weiss). There is a lot still to know about the

long term effects of stem cells but as of now the effects are good and even in other

forms of this therapy the repercussions are good. The worst effect that may come out of

this type of therapy is the body not taking to the treatment and rejecting the new healthy

stem cells (Noto 157). While paying for this therapy is quite expensive, there is a

possibility of the treatment not working and the body not accepting the help of the stem

cells. So while, little is known about stem cell therapy the dangers are minimal and the

benefits outweigh the downsides. If an athlete is in pain and wants to return to what they

love to be the best they can be and wants to help prevent these injuries then the use of

stem cell therapy and cryotherapy is right for them.

While many believe that people are born with their athletic abilities, it is really the

result of hard work and dedication to the sport. Athletes put in thousands of hours over

their lifetimes to improve and work on their skills and abilities. If an injury or overuse

stops them from performing their best then all that hard work to be the best was wasted.

That is why using therapies and recovery methods such as cryotherapy and stem cell

therapy is so important. While using these methods does not improve an athlete’s

abilities it can improve their performance during competitions or even just training.

Athletes without injury, that may not have the same athletic ability as another but is

unjuried can perform at a higher rate than one how is injured and in pain, “The aver age

noninjured athlete ranked at the 57.4 percentile based on best seasonal performance

while the average injured athlete ranked at the 75.4 percentile. This direct relationship

was present for both sexes and within all events, although some variation was noted

within these separate groups” (Watson), This shows that athletes who are not injured
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perform higher than those who are injured. With cryotherapy and stem cell therapy to

reduce pain and the chances of an athlete attaining overuse injuries they can perform to

the best of their abilities without pain and the fear of being injured to stop them from

competing. When using cryotherapy and stem cell therapy, athletes can improve their

performances by recovering quickly making them able to continuously perform at their

best levels.

In conclusion, I strongly believe the use of cryo and stem cell therapies do help to

improve the function of the body and the athletic performance of an athlete. Cryotherapy

works to reduce the inflammation in the body with extremely cold temperatures and

helps to numb soreness in the body it helps to reduce stress on the body that would

otherwise result in overuse injuries. Stem cell therapy works with adult stem cells to

heal broken or damaged muscles and tissues by injecting stem cells from other parts of

the body into the injury site which will then work to heal and become the damaged

muscle. As athletes take into account all the effects that playing sports has on their

bodies and the pain that is caused by all the strenuous activities they will begin to know

that the benefits of cryotherapy and stem cell therapy are good for their bodies and will

help them to perform the best they can. Although there are doubts about the

effectiveness of the therapies they do help to stop the causes of pain such as

inflammation and muscle damage. These therapies do not improve one’s ability to play

a sport well but it does improve their performance. The effectiveness of the therapies

makes me wonder why all athletes would not use the methods. If athletes began to take

their opportunities to recover and use these recovery methods they could’ve prevented

their suffering from overuse and prolonged injuries. If an athlete was in pain and instead
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of playing through it they began to take care of it by using these two methods of

therapy, they would still be playing. The temporary pain would have been resolved by

cryotherapy and stem cell therapy, and the slow build up of temporary pain to

permanent would have been stopped.

Works Cited

Aschwanden, Christie. "Athletes Love Icing Sore Muscles, but That Cold Therapy Might Make

Things Worse." The Washington Post [Washington D.C.], 5 Feb. 2019. Washington Post,

www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/athletes-love-icing-sore-muscles-but-

that-cold-therapy-might-make-things-worse/2019/01/31/a465dd84-1f25-11e9-8e21-

59a09ff1e2a1_story.html. Accessed 21 Mar. 2020.

Barrette, Amy, and Katherine Harman. "Athletes Play Through Pain—What Does That Mean for

Rehabilitation Specialists?". Journal of Sport Rehabilitation : 1-10.

<https://doi.org/10.1123/jsr.2018-0426>. Web. 25 Mar. 2020.

Best TM, Gharaibeh B, Huard JStem cells, angiogenesis and muscle healing: a potential role in

massage therapies?British Journal of Sports Medicine 2013

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Cryochamber. Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard University, Apr. 2018,

www.health.harvard.edu/blog/can-cryotherapy-stop-your-pain-cold-or-is-just-a-lot-of-

hot-air-2018041813612. Accessed 10 Apr. 2020.

Day, Molly, and Emily Ploen. The Effectiveness of Cryotherapy in the Treatment of Exercise-

Induced Muscle Soreness. Semantic Scholar,

pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b87c/07b6c95b97e30d23bf4f9f43f1233e95f32f.pdf. Accessed

25 Mar. 2020.

Hohenauer, Erich, et al. "The Effect of Post-Exercise Cryotherapy on Recovery Characteristics:

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis." PLoS ONE, vol. 10, no. 9, 2015. Gale In

Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link-gale-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/A430122932/ OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=50f3818d. Accessed 24 Mar. 2020.

Shmerling, Robert H. "Cryotherapy: Can It Stop Your Pain Cold?" Harvard Health Publishing,

Harvard Health, 18 Apr. 2018, www.health.harvard.edu/ blog/ can-cryotherapy-stop-

your-pain-cold-or-is-just-a-lot-of-hot-air-2018041813612. Accessed 25 Mar. 2020.

Tavares, Francisco. "How Long Does It Take to Fully Recover after a Competitive Match?"

Science for Sport, 10 June 2019, www.scienceforsport.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-

fully-recover-after-a-competitive-match/#toggle-id-1. Accessed 23 Mar. 2020.

Watson, Michael D., and Paul P. D. "Incidence of Injuries in High School Track and Field

Athletes and Its Relation to Performance Ability." The American Journal of Sports

Medicine, vol. 15, no. 3, May 1987, pp. 251–254, doi:10.1177/036354658701500310.

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Weiss, Rick. "The Stem Cell Divide." National Geographic, National Geographic Society,

www.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/ human-body/stem-cell-

divide/. Accessed 25 Mar. 2020.

Williams, Dr. Riley, 3. "When Stem Cell Therapy Is the Right Move for an Athlete." The

Playbook, HSS, 15 Apr. 2015, www.hss.edu/playbook/ stem-cell-therapy-right-move-

athlete/. Accessed 21 Mar. 2020.